Christmas Meditation
Luke 1:26-38
"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. "For nothing will be impossible with God."
And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her." Luke 1:26-38
I. Real time and space history. This is not a myth told to inspire.[1]
II. It is not blind faith. Mary asks honest questions and seeks honest answers.
III. Active Passivity : Saying yes to the impossible.
Mary at her Annunciation models faith for us. She shows us that faith is more than intellectual agreement, but is also trust, submission and commitment.
Mary trusted in God’s promises in HIS WORD and in the specific revelation of Gabriel, chose to surrender and submit to God’s specific will for her life and committed herself to be part of God’s plan of salvation in Messiah Jesus.
Today, we can hear the gospel of Jesus, and ask for it to be done to us according to the great promises offered to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Mary become a model for us on how to live by the gospel.
The offer of having Christ in your life and beginning a life of faith in him is happening today in real time and space history. Right here and right now.
A. For those who have never had Christ be in you.
B. For those who have had Christ in us but who need to be renewed in our living by faith in the gospel
2. Asking honest questions and getting honest answers is how a strong faith if born. The heart will not long hold onto what the mind rejects. (see The Case for Christmas by Lee Stobel)
3. Our Response: An Active Passivity – I can’t, YOU can, Let it be to me according to YOUR WORD.
[Rom 6:11, 13 AMP] 11 Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus. ... 13 Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities--sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.
[Gal 2:20 AMP] 20 "I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
I recommend you buy yourself a Christmas present a book by Francis Schaeffer that first taught me these truths decades ago called True Spirituality
[1] http://www.apologeticsguy.com/2014/12/the-virgin-birth-jesus/